How many colleges have administrators who simply don’t know all the ins and outs of the law when it comes to the federal policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, aka DACA?
You don’t want to be like Loma Linda University, a private religious college in San Bernardino, California.
In April, it admitted Veronica Velasquez, 23, into their graduate program for physical therapy.
But eight days later, Loma Linda University sent a very different note saying Velasquez could not enroll because of her immigration status.
Velasquez, who came to the United States from the Philippines as a child, does not have permanent resident status. But as a senior majoring in kinesiology at Cal State San Bernardino, she knew she was protected by DACA. When her application for graduate school was rejected she went to the ACLU of Southern California.
Lawyers there knew the law.
“Loma Linda University’s policy is not only ill-advised, but also unlawful,” said Katie Traverso, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, in a press statement. “Federal civil rights law makes it clear that Loma Linda University can’t discriminate against students based on their immigration status.”
